Magpies
by SaraVannin
Summary: Seven little Ulquihime drabbles based on the Magpie rhyme.


Disclaimer: Not mine.

Inspired by all of the Tanabata themed artworks over at BA. This isn't an entry, but I couldn't help myself once I got an idea into my head.

Seven little Ulquihime drabbles based on the Magpie rhyme.

**Magpies**

One for sorrow

Tears cascade down porcelain skin, but they do not mar the beauty of the face they mark. The wearer feels no shame, does not hide the teal lines from the world. They do not undermine the power they hold. Of course, there is strength in tears, power in the underlying emotion(s). But these tears, these teal tracks upon his face cannot be romanticised. They are a mockery. Ulquiorra feels nothing. No happiness, no misery. And perhaps that is the saddest thing of all. Perhaps, Orihime thinks, that is something truly deserving of tears.

Two for joy

She smiles because it's what she does. She will be the eternal sun shining in her friends' lives, chasing away the rain. She will laugh and smile and they will never see the truth. They will never bother to look beyond the smiles, which means that she won't have to either. There's no one to smile at in her cell. No one to laugh with in this world. Still, she will smile to herself, to these white walls, to this crescent moon. She will be the sun and smile because it's what she does, and she won't think about how she much prefers the rain.

Three for a girl

She is only fifteen, yet her body has matured to that of someone much older. She is only fifteen, but has lived through things that someone ten times her age never would. She has been thrust into a life of responsibility and danger and complications that cannot be reconcile with the reflection in her mirror. She only sees a girl staring back at her, and she feels so weak, so incapable of dealing with all her life throws at her. Then _he_ calls her 'woman'. 'Woman', not 'girl'. 'Woman', and for the first time in her life she feels strong enough to stand alone.

Four for a boy

'_Kurosaki-kun_'. It was his name that resounded in her head. His face that starred in her dreams. He was the reason she stayed strong. '_Kurosaki-kun_'. Not just a boy, but _the _boy. The only one. Her heart belongs to him, even if she has sworn her body and power to Aizen. '_Kurosaki-kun_'. She repeats it to herself, a mantra every day. She believes that it is only the strength she finds in this boy that keeps her alive. '_Kurosaki-kun_'. She overlooks the man that visits everyday, bringing her the essential nutrition her body needs and the company (however brief) her heart craves.

Five for silver

She doesn't know what it is that rouses her from her dreams (dreams of tangled limbs, frantic movements and desperate moans), but slowly her eyes open to the darkness of her cell. At first she thinks it's the remnants of sleep causing her eyes to play tricks on her, but three blinks later and the image remains. The light from the moon creeps in through the window, bathing all it falls upon in it's ethereal glow. He stands within the light, his whole person haloed by it. Her breath catches as she stares. His alabaster skin is glowing in the light. "Ul-Ulquiorra? Why are you in my room…in the middle of the night?" She ignores the fact that, _technically_ it is always night in Hueco Mundo. He stares at her, his face betraying nothing and then "You called me, so I came". Her brow crinkles in confusion at his words. "I called?" Images flash behind her eyes, images of tangled limbs, snow-white skin and onyx fingernails. "I called," she swallows loudly, "your name?" He simply nods.

Six for gold

He has seen the sun and _she_ is nothing like it. He is not bathed in light when in her presence; her hair is certainly a bright colour and her skin is a healthy peach tone, but she is not luminescent. He is not warmed by her presence; her actual body temperature is higher than his own, but she does not radiate heat to an extent where he is warmed by her. For these reasons, he was confused when Aizen repeatedly referred to her as such. He could not see the significance. Not before, but now he thinks he understands. Just like the stars (for he knows the sun is only a star) in her world's night sky, her presence will be felt long after she has gone.

Seven for a secret, never to be told

It hurts, but not in a way that is familiar. Of course, he has never turned to dust before, so he has no basis for comparison. Still, it does not feel like any pain of the body he has experienced before. All of her attention is focused on him, and a part of Ulquiorra regrets that it had to come to this for that to be the case. Her eyes on him, not quite understanding what is happening, cause the pain to escalate. She's been beaten, tormented, humiliated and used, all because he brought her to this world. And yet her eyes, focused so intently on him, do not condemn. "Are you afraid of me, woman?" Somehow it's important that he know.

He looks so sad, even for Ulquiorra. His eyes, not quite as vibrant a green as before, never leave her own. He's fading away before her, but she doesn't understand why. Wasn't his body just regenerating? She watches as he raises his hand to her, reaching out, and asks if she's afraid of him. It takes her a moment to process the situation. Is he asking for forgiveness? Or is it something else? "I'm not afraid," are the words she speaks, but they do not express her actual meaning. Even as she reaches out her own hand to his, she is thinking, '_I forgive you. I don't blame you. Please don't leave me, I need you. I'll miss you. I think I could-' _

"Really…" he says, and neither of them know if it was a question or the start of something else. Her hand is so close, but it seems they are destined to be forever divided. First by sides, then by understanding, now by fate. The pain is still there, but for some reason her words, her hand (so close) have caused it to ease slightly. As he watches Orihime grasp for his fingers, even as they fade, he finally understands. The irony makes him smile within his own mind. '_How typical that I should discover what a heart is, only to find that I have already given mine away.'_


End file.
